There are only a few ‘dragon decks’
in existence that I can think of and most of them I've
found disappointing in one way or another. I have a friend who is obsessed with
dragons, and he has also found the dragon decks he has seen lacking something-
either something Tarot-y or dragon-y.

Now, this lack of decent dragon-themed
tarot decks is a great disservice, considering how
popular dragons have become--especially amongst
neo-Pagans.

So you can maybe
understand why I am so thankful that the new Dragons Tarot, published by
Lo Scarabeo, is here. It’s an excellent dragon deck - not too dragon-y to take
away from the tarot part of it, yet not sacrificing
the essential aspects of the wide-ranging mythology and folklore surrounding
these epic, mythical beasts.

All the other dragon decks I have come
across so far have just used dragons as art, often
drawing fantastical creatures that popped straight out of the artist’s
imagination, and using them to adorn the cards (such as Peter Pracownik’s
Dragon Tarot). There is certainly nothing wrong with this if you like
artwork with dragons in it, but what about somebody looking for something
more, a deck that sees the history and mythology in
dragons? Well, the Dragons Tarot would be perfect for
them--it goes beyond mere art and pretty pictures, and
goes straight back to myths, legends, and beliefs about dragons, using them to
not only illustrate these lush and evocative cards, but also to convey the
card meanings.

Take a look at the Major Arcana,
for instance, and you’ll not only find Tiamet, Kur, and Tepheus (all mythical
beasts with their own stories and meanings), but also
other characters who mingled into the stories of these dragons--Merlin,
Sigurd, Uther Pendragon, and St. George. In two of the Majors we also see
events from myths involving dragons: the Scourge of Beowulf and the
disappearance of the dinosaurs. What’s more
is these cards are multicultural--we have Chinese
dragons, Celtic stories, Norse ideas, Christian legends, Greek beasts, and
more. This diversity really emphasizes the powerful
realization that dragons are almost a primal force in the human psyche, an
ongoing and repeating saga that is narrated in every culture. A powerful and
apt symbol indeed, for use in the tarot.

Throughout the Major Arcana, the images
are striking and symbolic. Some of them retain imagery from the Rider-Waite-Smith
(RWS) Tarot, but many also
change the traditional imagery completely, depicting instead an image of
relevance to the dragon or myth in that card. Even when this is done however,
the card is still recognizable and easy to read and interpret. Every now and
again there are references to traditional tarot
symbolism in an otherwise completely untraditional image: the ram’s head carved
into a mountain in the Emperor card, the almost un-noticeable Cerberus in the
Hermit card, the camel in the High Priestess card, and the trumpeting angel in
Judgement. I am particularly fond of the Tower card in this deck, where we see
a huge dragon, his tail nailed to the ground whilst forked lightning crackles
around him, and a golden angel with a red-hot sword looks on, triumphantly. The
text in the little white book reads:

“The great dragon of Hebrew legends
boasted to have created the heavens and earth and was thrust into the ground by
the Lord and made to keep watch until the day of judgement arrives. The limits
of one power affect the power of others.Limits –
Haughtiness – Collapse of mistaken convictions – Punishment.”~ p. 7

To me, this card and its small
description in the accompanying book exemplify how deep this deck really is,
though because the descriptions of each card are so small, I don’t doubt that a
bit of research would help the prospective user of the Dragons Tarot.

The Minor Arcana are also multicultural,
though this time they use one culture for each suit. We see Chinese
dragons in the Chalices
(Cups) suit, Aztec dragons in the Pentacles suit, European dragons for the
Swords suit, and African ‘dragons’ in the Wands suit. Whilst in some places
these cards stick to RWS imagery, in other places,
the images are very culturally based, and it takes a perusal of the accompanying
booklet to fully understand their relevance to the traditional interpretations
of the cards. For instance, the Five of Pentacles shows an exiled Aztec priest
having a vision of the future of his people- a particularly haunting vision of a
man clad in Spanish armour, bearded, clutching at one of the five gold discs in
the card.

I must admit that I am not entirely
happy with the Wands suit- to my knowledge, there is not much evidence of
dragons featuring heavily in African belief, but we are told in the accompanying
book that these dragons “...embody
the great force of nature”, so I suppose
they are justified in some way. (However, I am still a little concerned by how
similar to dinosaurs these African dragons look- the fact that they are
co-existing in these cards with humans jars the nerves slightly.)

The Court Cards are fairly traditional,
with the only title change being from Page to ‘Infanta’. Once again, it helps
to read the accompanying booklet to get more of a sense of what the images in
these cards are supposed to represent, as many of them refer to actual people or
legendary figures (such as the King of Swords who is ‘perhaps King Arthur’.)
One thing I find appealing about the Court Cards in the Dragons Tarot however,
is the Knights- each one is a ‘future warrior’ or ‘future King’- whichever is
appropriate for that
suit. So for instance, the Knight of Chalices is the future Emperor of China,
the Knight of Wands is a future warrior, (the Wands suit is based around warrior
figures) and the Knight of Swords a young King. To me, this relates directly
back to the Thoth deck, in which the Knights (or Princes) are destined to depose
the Kings (or Knights) of their suits.

The artwork in this deck is very
beautiful--sleek, colourful, and detailed, allowing
for symbolism to creep through. However, I find the red borders and the
Aztec-looking backs very uninspiring, even bordering on ugly and garish. As
with most Lo Scarabeo decks, the card titles are given unobtrusively in six
different languages in the top and bottom borders of the cards.

Overall, this deck is probably one of
the best dragon-themed decks around, at least if you’re looking for a deck
that’s more than just a pretty face. The Dragons Tarot has depth beyond
the fantasy artwork that seems so prevalent today, though in places it would be
worthwhile to do a little bit of research about the myths and figures depicted
in the cards. I would highly recommend this deck to any serious dragon
enthusiast, and even those looking for a fantasy art deck would find this deck
quite appealing. Beginners may, however, find it a little hard-going at first,
since it is quite different from traditional decks.

Kim Huggens is a 19
year-old Pagan Tarot reader, reading Philosophy at Cardiff University. She
has been studying tarot since the age of nine, and runs talks and workshops on
different aspects of the tarot. She is President of the Cardiff University
Pagan Society, and runs an online tarot course
here. She lives with
her boyfriend in Cardiff, and currently has a tarot deck collection of over 150
decks.